I am studying to be an ESL teacher and I am wondering if anyone has any advice for finding a balance between correcting and not correcting students' errors. I know that students should be encouraged to speak freely and openly without fear of being corrected all the time. But then, I wouldn't want my students to think that just because I am not correcting them, they are correct. I know that at the beginning levels, knowledge of proper pronunciation is very important. If the students do not grasp proper pronunciation during their beginning stages, it could hinder their eventual ability to become fluent. What do you do when you have a student who is at a later stage that still has problems with proper pronunciation?

If you have already taught them something and they then make an error on it, correct them. Otherwise, let it slide until you have taught it. And don't forget to get around to teaching it if you know they need to know that topic.

You can also take notes, especially on things that make it difficult to understand. I used to tell my pronunciation students to concentrate on fixing on thing at a time. There is no way you can worry about everything at once, because then you will be afraid to open your mouth. But if you are concentrating on the s/sh difference, or aspiration of p, t, k, at the beginning of a word, s/z, v/b, etc., you can flag those errors and let the rest go. And you can also bring it up afterwards, and not interrupt the discussion.